Look what the cat dragged in… Here’s some artwork for a collaborative beer from our friends at Surly Brewing Company, Norwegian brewery Lervig and Norwegian black metal band 1349. The label describes a black ale brewed with coffee. A Norwegian website, Olportalen, offers some insight into how the project came together [keep in mind that this is a Google translation… we left it choppy because it felt right]:
Sunday 17 October 2010 played the Norwegian black metal band in 1349 with the Swiss Triptykon in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the audience was none other than Todd Haug and enjoyed the leaden tones while Headbangers. Todd is the guitarist of the American thrash metal band Powermad and Head Brewery in Surly Brewing. A brewery that because of lack of capacity does not sell beer outside their home state, but that is still highly sought after and stands high on the charts with ølnettstedet Ratebeer. After the concert was over let Todd noticed that the Norwegians were very laborious in the bar when they were choosing beer, it was only in the strong American hops håndtverksøl, he decided to go and greet. This marked the beginning of the project that not many weeks ago was realized on Lervig Aktiebryggeri in Stavanger.
The article goes on to describe a two beers that will be showcased at a beer festival in Stavanger, Norway October 31st & November 1st. The first is a black ale, “of not less than 13.49%. A kind of hybrid beer, with flavors you often get from both Imperial Stout and IPA.” The second is described as a 6.66% pale ale.
There’s no official word on the US version just yet, though from the description, it’s probably safe to say that the US version will indeed be different, if nothing for the addition of coffee. We’ll know soon enough.
From the label:
“The 1349 Ales are the results of a collaboration between three highly potent forces – Norwegian metal masters 1349, American feinschmecker brewery Surly and Norwegian rising brewery star Lervig. With these ales we wanted to explore the powers of combined forces from different worlds of craftsmanship and to manifest what our ideas of proper beers are. We have all brought our mind, heart and soul to this project. Revel in the Dionysian pleasures.
As the bubonic plague silenced 2/3rds of Norway’s population back in the day, this dark beverage will scatter ashes along its way – leaving you breathless, but wanting more. The 1394 Black Ale is our Strange Old Brew; an absolutely massive beer loaded with all the power malts, hops and freshly ground espresso coffee has to offer, and rounded off with a distinguishable note of apocalyptic delicacy. This calls for a toast; now have a sip from our massive cauldron of chaos.’
